Show Notes
Today, we’ll help you prevent pesky mosquitoes from ruining your summer nights. Plus, we’ll share how to reverse sun damage on your roof to extend its life, and why reclaimed lumber could be your next sustainable and cost-effective home improvement project. Get answers to these and other questions from DIYers just like you!
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Mosquitoes: Stop unwanted pests from buzzing your BBQ with tips for eliminating mosquitoes.
- Roof Restoration: There’s a way to reverse sun damage and extend the life of your dried-out roof.
- Reclaimed Lumber: Discover the charm and benefits of using reclaimed lumber for home décor.
Top Questions & Answers
- Sump Pump: Sharon’s furnace is pulling sewer gas from the sump pump. If it’s coming through the drain line, she should install a P-trap and fill it with water to stop air in the pipe.
- Exterior Door: Water is coming through the side of an exterior door. Jim should see if the door is evenly hung and look for gaps with a flashlight.
- Squirrels: A squirrel in the basement drop ceiling is making Alison nuts! We explain how to humanely trap the squirrel and release it outside.
- Old Deck: It’s time for Michael to replace an old wood deck. We suggest using pressure-treated wood for the substructure and composite materials for the boards and rails.
- Indoor Moisture: Judy found some moisture on the wall paneling and gets tips for reducing indoor humidity with improved exterior drainage and a whole house dehumidifier.
- Flooring: After Bob’s house flooded and the floor was replaced, the new floor tiles started coming apart. He’ll need to remove the flooring and reinstall it correctly.
- Painting Siding: How do you paint vinyl siding? David gets advice on applying a high-bond primer for better adhesion and using a paint sprayer for better coverage.
- Moldy Smell: The room above the garage has a moldy smell after it rains. Gail needs to improve the ventilation and reduce the humidity in the garage.
Ask Your Home Improvement Question
Podcast Transcript
Read Transcript
| 00:00:31 | TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles, this is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:00:37 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:00:38 | TOM: Well, in our part of the world, it’s Father’s Day weekend right now. And maybe if that is going on in your neck of the woods, we say happy Father’s Day to all the DIY dads out there. And we officially give you the weekend off. It’s time to rest and relax. And if there’s a project to be done, get the kids to help with that. And we will get you back involved next week. But for us, it’s a work day. So we’re here to help you answer questions about projects that you want to get done around the house. I’d love to hear from a father who needs to give some instructions to his kids on projects that he needs to do. So reach out to us at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 1-888-666-3974. Or you can just go to moneypit.com slash ask on any device and then hit the blue record button. And you can record your question. It will come right to us. And we will get back to you very quickly with an answer. Coming up on today. So here’s one thing that is going to help a lot of folks is your midsummer night’s dream becoming a nightmare because of annoying mosquitoes. I swear, Leslie, I think the mosquito is the New Jersey state bird because we have so many of them here, no matter where you go. Well, except for my yard. And I’ll tell you what I do in a little bit later in the show. But we’re going to share some tips on the most effective way to stop mosquitoes from taking the bite out of your backyard fun. |
| 00:01:54 | LESLIE: All right. And also, summer can be tough on roofs, not just due to rain, but primarily because of the intense sun exposure. And they are projecting a super hot summer for the majority of the country this season. Now, the heat causes those shingles to dry out. Then they become brittle. Then they lose their protective qualities. However, there’s a way to reverse some of that sun damage and extend the life of your roof. We’ll explain how. |
| 00:02:17 | TOM: And do you want to contribute to a sustainable environment and maybe even save a few bucks along the way? If your answer to those questions is yes, then reclaim lumber. Maybe you can save a few bucks along the way. That would be the perfect fit for your next project. We’re going to share tips on how to work with that material. All right. |
| 00:02:33 | LESLIE: But before we get to what we want to talk about, we want to hear what you want to talk about. Whether you’re planning a small decor project or you’re diving into a full-blown renovation, we have got you covered. |
| 00:02:43 | TOM: That’s right. From fixing leaks to sprucing up your space, we are here to help you every step of the way. So call us right now at 1-888-Money-Pit. That’s 888-666-3974. Let’s get to it. Leslie, who’s first? |
| 00:02:58 | LESLIE: Sharon in Ohio is on the line with a sump pump question. How can we help you? We have an issue with our furnace. |
| 00:03:03 | CALLER: It seems to be pulling sewer gas from our sump pump because that’s where it drains into. And we can’t figure out how to solve the issue. Temporary solution is to pour water in the sump pump. But then about three or four days later, we turn the furnace on and it draws the sewage gas air again. |
| 00:03:18 | TOM: Well, let’s talk about this. So first of all, what water from the furnace is being drained into the sump pump? Are you talking about the condensate line from the air conditioning system? |
| 00:03:28 | CALLER: Yes, sir. |
| 00:03:29 | TOM: Is there a return duct in the basement area where this is or in the room where this is? Or do you think it’s coming in through the drain pipe? |
| 00:03:38 | CALLER: We think it’s coming in from the sump pump. And it’s a wintertime issue because it happens when we turn the furnace on. |
| 00:03:43 | TOM: Well, if you think it’s because it’s reversing, it’s pulling whatever soil gas is causing this unpleasant odor. If you think it’s coming in because of the drain line, there’s a really simple solution. Put a trap in it. So if the drain line has a P-trap, kind of the same kind of that sort of U-shaped pipe that’s underneath the bathroom sink, then that pipe will stay filled with water and will not allow any gases, any air to back up through it and get into the furnace. |
| 00:04:09 | CALLER: That’s not built into the furnace already? |
| 00:04:11 | TOM: Not always. I mean, it depends on the workmanship of the installer. But no, you would see it on the outside. If you don’t see a P-trap, it doesn’t have one. The other thing that could be causing this, and sometimes this happens is occasionally, and I don’t want to freak you out, but occasionally you’ll get a rodent that will die inside of a return duct. And if that happens, yeah, the stink can go on for quite a while. But I would take a look at that drain line, and if it doesn’t have a trap in it, do that. And make sure it’s filled with water when you start, if it’s the winter, because it won’t be. And I think you won’t find any more air gets through that pipe. Sharon, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:04:45 | LESLIE: Jim in South Dakota, you’ve got the Money Pit. How can we help you today? |
| 00:04:48 | CALLER: Well, I got a couple of exterior doors in the garage I added onto my house. And I’m getting water coming in. And I’m getting water coming in from inside the doors. And two of them, two of them are coming through the latch side, bottom corner. I’ve tried silicone-ing the threshold up to where it meets the jam. Tried running a little bit of silicone in there to seal that up. But I can’t seem to find where it is coming in at. But every time it rains, and if there’s a breeze, and pushing the rain against the latch side of the door, it’s running down and coming to the inside. |
| 00:05:26 | TOM: I’ve seen that kind of thing before. It’s very frustrating. You’re talking about a standard exterior door, not an overhead door, right? You’re talking about one that has hinges. Right, yeah. An exterior walk-through door, yep. The first thing I would check is to make sure the door is perfectly hung. And by that, I mean it has an even reveal, top, side, bottom. And then looking under the door, sometimes with a flashlight, you can see gaps. So if you use a flashlight at the saddle, you can shine it on one side and look underneath and see if there’s any gaps there. The type of weatherstripping you have is the kind that kind of looks like what’s on a refrigerator door. |
| 00:06:06 | CALLER: Yeah, yeah. It’s that D-style or O-style, whatever you want to call it. |
| 00:06:10 | TOM: It’s actually pretty durable. Now, does this door open into the garage, or does it open out to the backyard? Inwards. So pretty much like a standard door. Well, listen, if you don’t find anything there, I think you’re going to have to go with a storm door, because it’s definitely breaking down with the weatherstripping. |
| 00:06:24 | CALLER: I’m going to have to give that a try. |
| 00:06:26 | TOM: All right. Good luck. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:06:30 | LESLIE: Now, I’ve got Allison in New York on the line, who has an unwanted visitor at their money pit. What’s going on? |
| 00:06:35 | CALLER: My husband, I wish he was on with me, but our mission is to humanely trap, we believe to be a squirrel that’s running between the drop ceiling in our basement. And my husband said two by eight joint rafters. There’s like a two-inch space only. |
| 00:06:51 | TOM: What I want you to do is to go out and pick up a trap called a have-a-heart trap. Now, these have-a-heart traps are live traps in that they’re going to catch this squirrel, and then you’re going to pull this trap out, and you can take them out to the woods somewhere and release them. What you do with the have-a-heart trap is once you get it set up, in the back of the trap where you want the squirrel to kind of end up, put an apple back there. And don’t just put it back there, but wire it to the back wall of the trap. Take a piece of, like, picture wire, thread it through the apple, and kind of tie it off. So because I tell you what, even though these traps are good, those squirrels and other small rascals can sometimes grab that without tripping the door. But if you wire it to the back of the trap, they don’t have a chance. And set it near the opening, wherever you can get access to it. And I’ll tell you, sooner or later, that squirrel’s going to wander in that trap, and bam, you’ll hear the door slap, and they will not be happy. They’ll kind of be running in circles trying to figure out a way to get out. But you can cover them with a blanket, throw them in the back of your car, in the trunk, and take it out somewhere, and then as you open that up, believe me, they’re not going to stand around to kind of talk about it with you. They’ll just bolt. As soon as you lift that door, they will bolt into the woods. Okay. I hope that helps you out, Allison. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:08:15 | LESLIE: Hey, Money Pit listeners. If we’ve saved you some time, money, or hassles with your projects, you would totally make our day by leaving us a five-star review. And we’ll be back with another review on Apple Podcasts. Just go to MoneyPit.com slash review. Michael in Virginia is on the line and is working on a decking project. Tell us about it. Hey. |
| 00:08:32 | CALLER: So I’ve got a 12 by 12 deck that came with the house, and it’s about 20 years old. So boards are starting to peel up, and I’m no longer able to get a screw to stick in the sublayment. Am I able to sister the underlying boards with two by fours or something to build up the base, or am I better off replacing all of the substructure along with the deck? |
| 00:08:52 | TOM: So if it’s 20 years old, and it sounds like you’re working on a deck, and you’re working on a deck that’s not pressure treated, and if the existing floor joists have decayed to the point where they won’t even hold a screw or a nail, I think it’s time to replace that deck structure and all. Because the clock is ticking now, and it’s going to be potentially very unsafe in a very short period of time. So what I would tell you to do is to remove it, replace it, and consider using composite for the decking surface. You can use pressure treated for the frame, but use composite for the decking surface between the composite and the pressure treated. You know, you’ll get more than another 20 years out of it. Okay. |
| 00:09:26 | CALLER: Now, I’ve looked at composites, and price-wise, they’re pretty pricey. Am I going to be able to save a few bucks by going to a heavier duty, like a two by six kiln dried board and sealing all that when it goes in? |
| 00:09:38 | TOM: Well, the thing is you don’t, well, I wouldn’t use two by six. What I would use is five quarter by six if you want to go with the wood decking. But you’re going to have to seal and stain that, you know, every couple of years. The thing with composites is all you got to do is clean it. I mean, if you look at like a big box store, like a Home Depot, and those composites are not terribly expensive. They look really good. All right. |
| 00:09:58 | CALLER: I’ll have to check them out. |
| 00:09:59 | TOM: Because remember, you’re not replacing the floor joists with it. You know, you’re only doing the deck surface. So if it’s 12 by 12, you know, it’s 144 square feet. It’s 288 lineal feet. It’s probably worth it. |
| 00:10:10 | CALLER: I see. |
| 00:10:11 | TOM: Now, we are thinking about expanding it out a few feet, too. Yeah, well, that would be the time to do it, you know. Okay. |
| 00:10:16 | LESLIE: So you’re doing, the substructure is still all of the pressure treated lumber because you need that for the support. Okay. And then all of the decking itself and the fascia boards, and you can even do the railings. All of that can be the composite. And it’s really gorgeous. You know, I have one that’s sort of mid-range, but it has an interesting grain to it and almost looks like an Ipe. You know, it’s, you can get ones that are super simple and you can get ones that really look exotic. And I think that’s where your price point’s going to swing a lot. |
| 00:10:41 | CALLER: Now, how do you deal with the railings and the fencing it in? |
| 00:10:45 | LESLIE: So the posts would come up and that would be, you know, the basis for your supports. And that would be your pressure treated lumber. And that would be built up through from the substructure. And then there are sleeves that go over it in the composite. Now you can get ones that match your decking or you can go with white. |
| 00:10:58 | CALLER: And then for the substructure, now I am talking about, I was thinking this out, there are these concrete, I don’t know, they’re about a foot by a foot blocks that you can buy that you can lay your four by six across for, they say it’s for decking like in the yard. Am I better off doing that or poured concrete? |
| 00:11:17 | TOM: There are prefabricated footings for decks. They look like sort of like pyramids, but they’re not like one by one. They’re like one by one by about three feet tall. Then they have a place for a bracket on top. I’ve used those. They work really well. They’re a little harder to install because you’ve got to be more accurate with where the hole is. But frankly, I think the easiest thing to do is just to dig it yourself, a one foot by one foot square that’s a couple of feet deep and, you know, mix up three or four bags of Quikrete and make that the footing and then you can drop the pressure treated right into that. And then if you use the right level of pressure treated, it can actually be ingrained. Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks a lot, Tom. You got it. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:11:55 | LESLIE: Well, this summer, you’re likely to have some unwanted visitors at your barbecues, pool parties and other backyard gatherings, you know, the kind that likes to take bites out of you and your guests. Well, mosquitoes aren’t only a major hassle. They’re also among the world’s most dangerous insects due to their ability to transmit viruses to humans. Yeah. |
| 00:12:14 | TOM: That’s kind of scary. But the best way to protect yourself from mosquito bites is to not give mosquitoes a chance to make them. They can make themselves at home near your home. So first up, you want to eliminate all sources of standing water, which is where mosquitoes lay their eggs. Now check this out. A female mosquito can lay over 100 eggs at a time, which can grow to full size, blood thirsty, ready to bite adults in as little as eight to 10 days. Whoo. |
| 00:12:40 | LESLIE: All of that sounds terrible. Now we’re not talking about looking for leaks around the property, guys. We’re talking about looking for things like standing water in areas that are not safe. We’re talking about looking for things that are so much smaller, so think like an empty flower pot, a bucket, a jar, like that much water they can grow in, a wheelbarrow, any other container that can hold water after rain, even if it’s just that tiny little amount, is going to be perfect for those mosquitoes to breed in. All right. So what you’ve got to do is go ahead and drill holes into the bottom of trash cans, recycling buckets, all those little things to allow that water to drain out. And be sure to check your kids’ toys, like their wading pools, sandboxes, backpacks, buckets, all of that. Turn them over if you have to. Just put them away. Whatever you have to do to avoid any standing water is definitely going to make a huge difference. |
| 00:13:28 | TOM: And don’t be fooled by some of the mosquito remedies that are out there, like bug zappers, for example. They sound great, but they really don’t work. They make a very satisfying sound. They look very cool, but less than 1% of the bugs killed in the zappers are actually biting mosquitoes. Now, for years, I have been using a different type of product called the Dynatrap. We set it up in the spring. It runs straight through the fall. And what it does is reduces the mosquito population and prevents those mosquitoes from biting us. And I’m telling you, it works incredibly well. We probably get a few bites a year with those Dynatraps working. And I’ve added more over time and very happy with that. But the thing is, it’s not like a bug zapper where you put it up and you expect it to work right away. It takes about three weeks for it to actually impact the populations of mosquitoes. And mosquitoes, because of that cycle we talked about earlier. So check them out at Dynatrap, it’s probably Dynatrap.com, but I’ll tell you what, it works great. |
| 00:14:27 | LESLIE: Judy in Minnesota is on the line with a moisture issue. What’s going on? |
| 00:14:31 | CALLER: Our house is about 40 years old. And it has, in the room that we’re talking about, we’re painting it. We painted it once before with a primer. And it turned out really nice. I thought it looked really nice. But now we repainted it a different color. And on the inside, then, it looks really nice. And it’s that rough paneling. And it’s separated by, it’s got the insulation in there with the plastic on it. And we notice now when we’re going to paint it that there’s moisture like halfway down on the paneling. We think that’s caused by condensation. |
| 00:15:06 | TOM: It may very well be if it’s a damp space. Now there are some things that you can do to reduce condensation in below-grade spaces. It’s kind of the same steps that you would take if you were having an actual flood. You want to make sure that your exterior drainage is set up so that no moisture is going to be trapped against the outside foundation wall. And that means making sure the gutters are clean, the downspouts are extended, and the soil slips away from the walls. If you’ve done all those things, then the next thing I would do is I would install a dehumidifier in that space and try to find one that has a built-in condensate pump so that it collects water and pumps it out. Otherwise, you’ll be emptying buckets upon buckets of water. And then finally, it’s also possible to install a whole-home dehumidifier, which is an appliance that is attached to your HVAC system. These are highly effective at pulling moisture out. In fact, most of them will take 99 or 100 pints of water out a day. So those are three different ways that you can reduce moisture in that space. Judy, thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:16:05 | LESLIE: Now we’ve got Bob from Arkansas on the line with a flooring problem. What’s going on at your house? |
| 00:16:09 | CALLER: We was out of town overnight, and our house flooded inside from a broken pipe, and it flooded the whole house. So the company come in and tore out a whole house. I had all my flooring and subflooring. And when I come back in, the contractors took together tiles that are like pergo. Anyway, when they put them together or put them in, did not lock them together. They laid them on the floor and knocked them together and broke all my locks. Now they’re coming apart. |
| 00:16:39 | TOM: Oh, you see, a lot of those laminate floor tiles, they’re not designed to be glued together. They’re sort of a locking joint. Now, if they did not install them correctly, if they tried to bang them together instead of… So you have to sort of like rotate them to click together. Then there’s going to be nothing you can do about that. They’ve essentially damaged the floor. Okay. |
| 00:17:02 | CALLER: My question is, they’re going to replace it, but should I have them tear out this old flooring and put the new one in or just put this over there? |
| 00:17:14 | TOM: Yeah, definitely get rid of the old stuff because it’s not going to be secure. There could be movement. There could be movement under that. Now, I would go back to the way it was, get rid of that old flooring and start again from scratch. |
| 00:17:24 | LESLIE: Well, summer is a rough season on your roof, not so much because of the rain, but more because of the exposure to the intense heat of that summer sun, which can cause shingles to dry out, then they become brittle, and then they’re not protecting your home any longer. |
| 00:17:39 | TOM: That’s right. But if you’d like to reverse the damage done by the sun and extend the life of your roof, an application of RoofMax Roof Rejuvenation can do. Just that. And I can tell you from personal experience that the product is a safe, easy, proven, and very affordable way to gain more and more years out of your roof life, and certainly a great alternative to a roof replacement. |
| 00:18:01 | LESLIE: That’s right. Joining us to talk about how it works is Mike Fiesel, the president of RoofMax. Welcome, Mike. Hey. |
| 00:18:07 | MIKE FEAZEL: Thank you, Leslie. |
| 00:18:08 | TOM: So, Mike, can you talk about how roofs actually wear out? I think a lot of folks are not aware of the process that a shingle goes through over a period of 10, 15, 20 years to lose its ability to keep water away from the house. Yeah. |
| 00:18:24 | MIKE: Very, very simple. The oils in the asphalt, just like in a road, as those oils dry out, and of course in the summer, the UV bakes the oils out quicker, the heat from the attic that builds up in the attic also helps bake those oils out. And as the shingle dries out, it becomes brittle, cracks, leaks, blows off. It’s the same reason you see a pop-up. You see a pothole in the road. Once they put down a new road, it’s nice and smooth, and over time, those oils dry out. And slowly, you see cracks develop. Eventually, there’s a pothole, and then you see them coming in and replacing the road. So it’s really the same thing. |
| 00:18:59 | LESLIE: You guys seem to be using a better product to reverse this aging. How does this work? |
| 00:19:04 | MIKE: So this is a plant-based treatment, so it’s 100% safe. It’s USDA-certified, bio-preferred. And all we’re doing, when we apply it to the roof, it will soak down into the shingles, and over 72 hours, within 72 hours, that roof’s flexibility is restored. We passed testing through the Ohio State University on 17-year-old shingles treated with RoofMax. We passed the same flexibility testing that’s required of brand-new shingles. |
| 00:19:33 | LESLIE: But now 17 years, I mean, that is a fairly aged shingle there. Is it ever a point where that shingle is just too far gone, or can you kind of reverse it at any point? |
| 00:19:43 | MIKE: We can’t reverse it at any point. So our dealers come out. We get on the roof, the installers, and see if the roof qualifies. So it has to qualify before we’ll apply the treatment, because we give a five-year warranty. So about 10% of the roofs that we do get on, we do suggest replacement. |
| 00:20:00 | TOM: And that’s important that you do start with that inspection, because certainly there are other areas of a roof that can lead to leaks and damage of the house, the vent flashings and that sort of thing. So having that inspection done first assures that the shingle is capable of being rejuvenated, but also picks up anything that’s additional. Now, once you apply RoofMax to the roof, it’s not a one-and-done thing, right? You can come back and do this a number of additional times and gain additional years. Is that correct? |
| 00:20:29 | MIKE: Absolutely. Yeah. We can treat up to three times. We have a large number of customers that we’ve now treated for the second time, and in another few years, we’ll go back out and see if we can’t get them a third treatment, essentially doubling the life of the roof. |
| 00:20:42 | TOM: You know, you talked about how the product restores flexibility. When we used RoofMax on our family home in Florida, the dealer came out a day or two before we were ready to film this. And by the way, there’s a video of this whole experience on the RoofMax website and the RoofMax YouTube channel. But he came out a couple of days ahead of time and sprayed half the roof. And then when we got there with the crew, we actually went up on the roof and you could see literally before and after how one side of the roof was very brittle and stiff and the other side. We were picking their shingles up off the roof and sort of flopping them a little bit because they were so rubbery at this point after the treatment was done. And it really was interesting to see how that happens. And I got to tell you, when I first heard about RoofMax, I wasn’t sure because there’s been a lot of roof treatments over the years that I’d seen, especially in all the years I spent as a home inspector. But man, reading the Ohio State research work that was done and seeing it in person, I’m thoroughly impressed and will be a forever fan of RoofMax. Yeah. |
| 00:21:43 | MIKE: We appreciate that. We appreciate that, Tom. |
| 00:21:44 | TOM: Well, absolutely. You guys certainly deserve it. So what’s next for RoofMax, Mike? |
| 00:21:47 | MIKE: So we’re starting to add in roof replacement services slowly in different markets. Right now, we focus on rejuvenation. My brother and I came out of the roof replacement industry. We replaced roofs for 25 years and solved the challenge with ripping shingles, drying out, sold our replacement business, and then we started RoofMax, right? And so now we’re starting to add in different markets. Roof replacement. Yeah. |
| 00:22:19 | MIKE: So it’s a wonderful opportunity for everyone. That’s great. |
| 00:22:22 | TOM: Thank you We appreciate it. And just one thing I noticed about the co-owner of fuzzy technology and keeMaa Poo. In the co-pandemic or remind me, turn over those hovels as it were, and They’re in the middle, and they’ve all been in the building since Celebration Вс. Thank you very much. Yeah. |
| 00:22:36 | MIKE: Sometimes you are right, 2009, 2012. It is the gray Rock for hairdressers. And there are no oldgee resistant Chinelas or ch pueda dentures, right? Which is fascinating because at this moment, as the home improvement department bumpers, they’re depopulated by given powders. percent of the children age out of foster care, which means they become a permanent ward of the state, and so the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption has figured a way to get those children forever families, and the average age is 12, 13 years old when they time out of the system, so now you’ve got a child that is older, not as adoptable, you know, as a newborn or a younger child, and they’ve just done an amazing job. You know, to me, the real heroes in the whole story are the parents that adopt these amazing children. |
| 00:23:15 | TOM: Well, and they couldn’t do it also without your great support and the support of your entire team and all your dealers across the country, so Mike Fiesel from RoofMax, thank you so much for stopping by the money. Congratulations on the growth of the company. Thanks for educating us on how to care for our roofs and for the work that you’re doing with the Dave Thomas Foundation. If you’d like to learn more, you can go to roofmax.com, that’s roof, M-A-X-X.com, or pick up the phone. Pick up the phone and call RoofMax at 1-800-ROOF-MAX, 1-800-ROOF-MAX. Mike, thanks for stopping by the Money Pit. Thanks for having me on. Have a great day. |
| 00:23:50 | LESLIE: We’ve got David in Arkansas on the line who needs some help with a painting question, specifically about vinyl siding. What’s going on, David? |
| 00:23:57 | CALLER: Yeah, I’m purchasing a new home in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and the upper part of the house is vinyl siding, and the lower part is grit. Okay. I don’t like the color of the vinyl siding. So I was wondering if I could paint that. |
| 00:24:12 | TOM: Yeah, there are paints that are available for vinyl siding. It’s a very specialized, you know, kinds of paint. You want to make sure that you’re buying the right one. The key with painting siding, a vinyl siding, is it’s got it here. It’s got a stick. You need to use what’s called a high-bond primer. By bonding, we mean like sticking. So you use a high-bond primer first, and then you use a top coat on top of that. Okay. Okay. Okay. That said, you’re not going to get, you know, 20 years out of this. It’s going to probably be a typical, you know, seven, eight years of life out of the paint job, but you definitely can paint it. I would recommend that you spray paint this. You can either, you know, you can do this yourself. You can buy your own spray painter, like Wagner makes one for 300, 400 bucks. You can buy a good quality one and spray the house yourself, or you can hire a pro because it is very difficult to get paint where it has to be when you’re dealing with vinyl siding and all those nooks and crannies. If you know what I mean. So I think it’s best applied by a spray. Okay. |
| 00:25:15 | CALLER: Sounds good. I appreciate the advice. |
| 00:25:18 | LESLIE: Well, if you love the beautiful wood floors and moldings of older homes, but you live in a much younger one, you can still get some of those same benefits by using reclaimed lumber. Now, reclaimed lumber is wood that’s been rescued from older homes, barns, all kinds of other buildings. It’s kind of a great option for home improvement and decor projects because it offers truly unique qualities that brand new hardwood simply doesn’t have. |
| 00:25:42 | TOM: Now, first up, reclaimed lumber is often more durable than commonly available hardwood. And that’s because these pieces originate in old growth wood, which nowadays is harder and harder to come by. But if you use reclaimed lumber, it can also be cost effective because depending on the type of wood that you plan to use, reclaimed lumber can save you over $10 a square foot. |
| 00:26:03 | LESLIE: And because you’re giving that wood a second life, reclaimed lumber is also an environmentally conscious choice. There’s so many ways that you can use reclaimed lumber. It makes for beautiful hardwood flooring. You can use it for countertops, cabinets, shelving, drawers, accent walls, even for partitions. And you can figure out ways to use it on the ceiling. I mean, it’s gorgeous and it really does make a unique look for your home. |
| 00:26:27 | TOM: That’s right. So if you decide to use reclaimed lumber in your next project, you may just find that this very unique, durable, and beautiful material is cost effective and eco-friendly and definitely worth using. |
| 00:26:40 | LESLIE: Gail in Massachusetts is on the line and suspects that there could be mold afoot at the Money Pit. What’s going on? |
| 00:26:46 | CALLER: My den has a moldy kind of smell to it, but mostly after it rains. And I don’t know if there’s a device that can be used to put it up against the wall to see if there’s any moisture or mold or anything like that. |
| 00:27:02 | TOM: So your den smells damp after it rains. Okay. How is your den constructed? Is it on a concrete slab or is it on a crawl space or a basement? |
| 00:27:11 | CALLER: It’s right above my garage. |
| 00:27:12 | TOM: Well, you’re probably getting a lot of humidity from that garage. It’s working its way up into that space. So it’s not totally surprising. I think necessarily what you’re smelling is mold. It could be some mold in there, but I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. It might just be the dampness and the humidity as it passes through the building materials, getting up in that space and just leaving some odors behind. I think ventilation is a solution for you. You’re in probably better air conditioning and perhaps even some dehumidification. You have a central air conditioning system? |
| 00:27:44 | CALLER: I do. |
| 00:27:45 | TOM: So there’s a whole home dehumidifier that can be added to that that will speed up the amount of moisture that it will take out. Because air conditioners will take out moisture, but what happens is they tend to not take out enough. And sometimes it can still feel kind of clammy, but a whole house dehumidifier does it all. And it’ll take out… I mean, most whole house dehumidifiers can take out like 100 quarts of water a day. And that can be built right into the system. |
| 00:28:09 | LESLIE: And you know what? The other ones rely on the owner to empty them, make sure it’s set to the right humidistat. You know, it’s much better to have the whole house one. |
| 00:28:17 | CALLER: Yeah, yeah. Because I have one in my basement right now that I keep emptying. |
| 00:28:21 | TOM: Yeah, that’s way too much work. You don’t have to do that. And by the way, the fact that you have moisture in the basement and you have this up above the garage, you may want to look at, just generally speaking, all of the drainage sources around the outside of your house. Because if your gutters are clogged, if your downspouts aren’t extended, if the soil around the house is too flat, you’re basically holding a lot of water against that foundation perimeter. And that could be a problem because that’s going to lead to dampness, humidity, and potentially even flooding. |
| 00:28:48 | CALLER: Oh, okay. So we don’t really have a water problem in our basement, but I’m wondering if the… So if I just make sure the gutters are clear… |
| 00:28:56 | TOM: Well, let me just stop you right there. The fact that you have to use a dehumidifier that collects enough water that has to be dumped, that is a water problem, okay? You’re just not seeing it yet, okay? So you do have a water problem. You just don’t know it. |
| 00:29:08 | CALLER: Yeah, yeah. And also the washer and dryer in the closet of the den, and I didn’t know whether… And it was just recently installed, and so I didn’t know whether that was kind of a problem because it almost smells like part of the bathroom. |
| 00:29:22 | TOM: Yeah, I think you got to stop chasing these smells down and start dealing with the core issue, which is the high humidity and the moisture. I think that’s going to solve it all. All right, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-Money-Pit. |
| 00:29:35 | LESLIE: Well, Robbie in Illinois reached out to Team Money Pit and says, I noticed that when I’m walking across the floor, one or two spots feel bouncy. Sometimes that vibration can cause a dish to fall over that’s 10 to 12 feet away. What can I do to remedy the weakness? Well, obviously, take the trampoline out of the room. |
| 00:29:51 | TOM: That’s a little scary, huh? Yeah. That’s super bouncy. So, Robbie, you didn’t mention how old your house is, but let me do a little speculation here because I’ve actually seen this condition consistently on newer homes that have a certain type of floor framing called a TJI. It’s kind of like a wood beam in the shape of sort of an I-beam and has a top cord and a bottom cord and sort of a plywood middle. And they’re very popular in new construction because they’re affordable, they’re consistent, they help you put the home together pretty quickly. But what I have found is that even though they meet the requirements for load in terms of how much weight you can put on them, they tend to be more flexible and hence more bouncy than other types of floor systems. So I can tell you that in the years that I was a professional home inspector, when I found one of these houses, especially if it was like the living room or dining room, as I walk across it, I hear everything rattle and know exactly what was going on. So the question is, what do you do about it? Well, obviously you have a floor structure and even if it’s not TJI, those floor beams are weak. So what I would do is I would put an interim girder. And now this is perpendicular to the way the floor joists run and you don’t have to have a foundation for it. You don’t have to dig anything up. They can be supported by screw jacks. But what they’re basically going to do is be risen up tight under those joists and have a floor structure. Half the distance, half the span of that floor joist. And this way, when it does want to bend, it will hit that and have some resistance and some strength. It’s frankly the easiest way to stiffen that floor up without a lot of expense. Well, guys, if you’re heading outside for home repairs up high, a sturdy ladder is a help. But ladder falls send hundreds of people to emergency rooms every year. And some falls can even be fatal. Leslie’s got safety tips for using a ladder safely in today’s episode. In addition of Leslie’s last word. Leslie? |
| 00:31:40 | LESLIE: Yeah, you know, the biggest mistake that you can make when using a ladder is to take shortcuts. You got to be safe. And in order to do so, that ladder needs to remain stationary. If you’re using an extension ladder, you need to level the feet by digging out the ground or using those ladder levelers. On hard, dry ground, you want to make sure that those feet rest flat. They’re free of slippery plastic tarps and debris. And you also want to make sure that the textured rubber pads at the bottom of the ladder are intact. If you’re on a road, you want to make sure that the rubber pads are on grass or softer ground. You want to flip those feet up because there’s a spike down there that you can drive into the ground or lay the feet flat and tie them down on the side or even brace them in front with one by two stakes. Now, you need to make sure that the position of the ladder is correct. It’s got to be that the distance from its base to the wall is one quarter of the height of the ladder at its resting point. That’s going to create a 75 degree angle. For a quick check on the angle of your ladder, you want to stand face down, facing it with your feet touching its feet and your arms extended. The palms of your hand should rest on a rung at shoulder height. And you always want to look overhead for wires before you carry or before you set up that ladder. And don’t rest an extension ladder against a tree or a pole because guess what? It can rotate and fall right off of that. So many things that seem like common sense, yet so many people get hurt. So do take extra caution when using a ladder. |
| 00:33:04 | TOM: Good advice. This is the Money Pit Home Improvement Show. Coming up next time on the program, we are going to tackle the topic of natural stone countertops. They are a very popular choice for kitchens, but they’re also very high maintenance. So we’re going to talk about whether the beauty and durability of stone tops is worth the hassle. And if so, what the easiest ways are to care for what you’ve got. That’s all coming up on the very next edition of the Money Pit. I’m Tom Kraeutler. |
| 00:33:31 | LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete. |
| 00:33:32 | TOM: Remember, you can do it yourself. |
| 00:33:34 | LESLIE: But you don’t have to do it alone. |
| (Note: The above referenced transcript is AI-Generated, Unedited and Unproofed and as such may not accurately reflect the recorded audio. Copyright 2024 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc. No portion of this transcript or audio file may be reproduced in any format without the express written permission of Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.) |
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